Element EX-6 Overhaul
Power!!!!!!!!!!!!

In this guide, I will be showing you how to overhaul the Element EX-6. Quite underrated, the Element has not enjoyed the booming success of the internally similar Nightfinder. Both guns share the same plunger rod, and the same catch, although the Element is more bulky in comparison with the Nightfinders streamlined shape. I personally favor the Element because of its large dart capacity, and its mod-friendly, spacious shell.

NOTE: This is a post-mod write-up. I have tried to make it a clear as possible.

Materials:
5.5” of 1” PVC
One-half of a ˝”PVC coupler
3.3” of ˝”PVC
2” of CPVC
Electrical tape
Hot glue/epoxy (hot glue is acceptable in this application because it is not under high stress)
One Element EX-6
Tech-Target plunger rod, or a piece of 3/8” nylon rod.
A cutting board, or a piece of 3/8” thick plastic sheet.
1 3/16” o-ring.
1” long screw. (You can use just about any small screw)
˝” nut.
Scraps of 1/8” Plexiglas or polycarbonate.
AS-20 spring and a recon spring. (You can also use a piece of a k26 spring)

All right, time to begin.
Start by unscrewing the gun, and removing the internals.

You will now need to dremel all of the areas pictured, until your gun matches mine. (Ignore the nut)
Here is what you will need:

Ready, set, cut!!

Whew… that was a lot of pictures.

Time to make the plunger tube.
Cut a piece of 1” PVC to 5.5”, de-burr the edges.

Now, cut a ˝” PVC coupler in half.
Dremel off the couplers casting nub, and wrap it in a few layers of electrical tape, until it fits snugly in the plunger tube. Then superglue it in.

In the end, it should look like this:

It is now time to modify the tech target plunger rod. I chose to cut a second catch notch, and to reinforce with hot glue…..ha ha. You do not have to do either of these mods, and can simply leave the rod stock. You can also make your own plunger rod, out of 3/8” nylon rod.

Time for the hardest part; the plunger head. Using you Dremel circle cutter, cut out a 1 and 1/16” diameter disc. (I am supposing you know how to use the circle cutter)

You can fine-tune the disc by placing it on the centering spike, and, using gloves, cut off extra plastic and resize.

Once you have your disc, put a 2” long, 1/8” thread screw all the way through the disc.

Put this into the chuck of your drill.

Put your drill in the brace, and set the height.

I only have a faux drill press, but it works. A real drill press will work too.
Anyway, now take a 1/8” metal rod, turn on the drill to medium speed, and use it to cut a Ľ” deep groove along the edge of the disc.

Nice!!!

Now, it is time to put the plunger assembly together. Stretch the o-ring onto the plunger head, and lube it up. Then, screw the head on to the plunger rod with a 1” long screw. (Do not forget to put the catch and the springs onto the plunger rod BEFORE you screw on the head)

Almost done! Glue a piece of 1/8” Plexiglas to the spot pictured, and then glue the 1/2” nut on top. (This is to hold the plunger tube in place, while still making it accessible)

Next glue a scrap of Plexiglas right under the tactical rail.
This is also here to hold the plunger tube

Although I do not have a picture of it, I used hot glue to fill the gap between the spring rest and the catch track. You can kind of see it in some of the other pictures.

You can now put the plunger assembly into the gun.
Don’t forget the trigger!!!

Screw the gun back together, wrap electrical tape around the front end, since there are no screws there. And you’re done. Well….except for the barrel. At the war I attend, homemade darts are banned, so I decided to go with a stock-dart-firing barrel.

With the large air volume of the new plunger tube, you could put a quite long barrel on this gun.
To make the barrel I did: take a 3.3” piece of ˝”PVC, and a 2” piece of CPVC. Bevel the edge of the CPVC so that the darts will load smoothly.
Then ram the CPVC into the pvc.
I ported my barrel, because the high amount of air that was not used, ended up blowing around the dart, and making it spin out.
If you use a longer barrel you will not have this problem.

Here are a few pictures of the longer barrel I whipped up.
It is 6” long and has a piece of CPVC inside the bottom.
Even though it is twice as long as my original barrel, it still vacuum loads.
Here is one of the modified sonic micros I used in testing this gun.

Wow, I still can't get over the overall awesomeness that this blaster has. That PH idea is fabulous, I will definitely try it out! Thanks for the contribution, it's worth it!

Forsakenangel: Wow, 7 posts and only 2 of them have to do with the topic.
Go Nerfhaven!
Langley: I'm sorry we went off topic in your thread about exploding Easter bunnies. We'll try to do better next time.

A decent enough mod but I do hold your 100' ranges suspect. With a plunger tube that size, I couldn't see much more than 70', tops. The darts you're using don't look like they can fit inside your barrel.

He's got that cpvc stub in the back of the barrel too. I've never used a setup quite like that. I might try those modified darts for indoors.

Nice mod and a good guide to re-doing the guts of many pistols as well. I see that I need to rig up a circle cutter for my janky dremel. Thanks for showing us your method for making a plunger head. Very nice. I am a bit concerned about safety with the use of a rod to make the o-ring slot. Knowing me there would be blood. I have some good gloves though.

A decent enough mod but I do hold your 100' ranges suspect. With a plunger tube that size, I couldn't see much more than 70', tops. The darts you're using don't look like they can fit inside your barrel.

I said I only got 100ft ranges with stock sonic micros, at least with the short barrel. The darts I am using are simply stock sonic micros with the top cut off. Last time I checked, stock darts fit into 1/2" PVC.

@iamthatcat: you could bend the rod into a loop were you hold it, eliminating the risk.